Chapter 29

¹ And David the king said to all the congregation, Solomon my son, ¹whom the Lord has chosen, is young and tender, and the work is great; for it is not for man, but for the Lord God. ² I have prepared according to all my might for the house of my God gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, onyx stones, and costly and variegated stones for setting, and every precious stone, and much Parian marble. ³ And still farther, because I took pleasure in the house of my God, I have gold and silver which I have procured for myself, and, behold, I have given them to the house of my God ²over and above, beyond what I have prepared for the ³holy house. ⁴ Three thousand talents of gold of Suphir, and seven thousand talents of fine silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the sanctuary: ⁵ for thee to use the gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for every work by the hand of the artificers. And who is willing to ⁴dedicate himself in work this day for the Lord?

⁶ Then the heads of families, and the princes of the children of Israel, and the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and the overseers of the works, and the king's builders, offered willingly. ⁷ And they gave for the works of the house of the Lord five thousand talents of gold, and ten thousand gold pieces, and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. ⁸ And they who had precious stone, gave it into the treasuries of the house of the Lord by the hand of Jeiel the Gedsonite. ⁹ And the people rejoiced because of the willingness, for they offered willingly to the Lord with a full heart: and king David rejoiced greatly.

¹⁰ And king David blessed the Lord before the congregation, saying,

Blessed art thou, O Lord God of Israel, our Father, from everlasting and to everlasting. ¹¹ Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the ⁵glory, and the victory, and the might: for thou art Lord of all things that are in heaven and upon the earth: before thy face every king and nation is troubled. ¹² From thee come wealth and glory: thou, O Lord, rulest over all, the Lord of all dominion, and in thy hand is strength and rule; and thou art almighty with thy hand to increase and establish all things. ¹³ And now, Lord, we give thanks to thee, and praise ⁶thy glorious name. ¹⁴ But who am I, and what is my people, that we have been able to be thus forward in offering to thee? for all things are thine, and of thine own have we given thee, ¹⁵ for we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days upon the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining. ¹⁶ O Lord our God, as for all

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this abundance which I have prepared that a house should be built to thy holy name, it is of thy hand, and all is thine. ¹⁷ And I know, Lord, that thou art he that searches the hearts, and thou lovest righteousness. I have willingly offered all these things in simplicity of heart; and now I have seen with joy thy people here ⁷present, willingly offering to thee. ¹⁸ O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, preserve these things in the thought of the heart of thy people for ever, and direct their hearts to thee. ¹⁹ And to Solomon my son give a good heart, to perform thy commandments, and to observe thy testimonies, and thine ordinances, and to accomplish the ⁸building of thy house.

²⁰ And David said to the whole congregation, Bless ye the Lord our God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and they bowed the knee and worshipped the Lord, and did obeisance to the king. ²¹ And David sacrificed to the Lord, and offered up whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord on the morrow after the first day, a thousand calves, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, and their drink-offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²² And they ate and drank joyfully that day before the Lord: and they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and anointed him king before the Lord, and Sadoc to the priesthood.

²³ And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and was highly honoured; and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ The princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons of king David his father, were subject to him. ²⁵ And the Lord magnified Solomon over all Israel, and gave him royal glory, ⁹such as was not upon any king before him.

²⁶ And David the son of Jessae reigned over Israel forty years; ²⁷ seven years in Chebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ²⁸ And he died in a good old age, full of days, in wealth, and glory: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. ²⁹ And the rest of the acts of David, the former and the latter, are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, ³⁰ concerning all his reign, and his power, and the times which went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the earth.

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